👧 The Rise of FemTech: Empowering Women Through Technology

You've heard of edtech, fintech and even foodtech. Now let's take a look at FemTech, which is saving and empowering women.

Technology has truly revolutionised every field of life.

Education? You got EdTech.

Wanna grab food? FoodTech comes in.

All things finance? FinTech.

But, in the mad rush of this modern era, have we forgotten what's most important? Have we neglected our health, our bodies?

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♀️The Origin of FemTech

Problems along these lines were faced by a woman named Ida Tin, back in 2013. 

She did not know how her body functioned. She realised her birth-control wasn’t working for her, but she didn’t know why. She did not find any products that would suit her body, and didn’t know why.  

These problems led her to work for a cause. She launched her app, Clue - to help people understand and be aware of the unique patterns and cycles in their bodies with personalised health data. 

Three years later, she coined the term “FemTech” for all products and services using tech to cater to women’s health and wellbeing. It ranges from general health and wellness, menstruation, fertility, pregnancy and nursing, to sexual health, female pleasure, feminine hygiene, and diseases. 

Wow, but do we really need to label a sector on the basis of sex? Well, this is what Ida Tin had to say: 

“By defining the group of products that are associated with female health, we are creating an entirely new category of technology and, by grouping these technologies, it paves the way for femtech conferences and for VC’s to invest in femtech, building out a femtech portfolio. This legitimises the market.”

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🧐 The Need for FemTech

Historically, and ironically, most research around health has been conducted on men, without any sex-based differences taken into account. Because, you see, women’s health is considered a “niche” area (which, by the way, is half of the world’s population). 

As a result, this area was under-researched, and hence, under-diagnosed. 

Autoimmune diseases (catering to the immune system) affect 8% of the global population, out of which 78% are women. Women comprise two-thirds of the people with Alzheimer’s. Women are three times more likely to have a fatal heart attack than men. Women are twice as likely to suffer chronic pain conditions. 

Inadequate research often leads to misdiagnosis, simply because differences in the anatomy of both the sexes show different kinds of symptoms: Men experience chest pain or discomfort before a heart attack, but women show less common symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or back pain. 

To solve these problems, FemTech was born. 

An August 2022 report points out that the global FemTech market is growing at a CAGR 16.3% and is expected to reach $97.3 billion by 2030 ($25.3 billion in 2021). The industry received $16 billion in funding in July 2022!

But, what induced growth in this space?

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✊ The Rise of FemTech

Women began entering the workspace only in recent times. And, as they are taking control of their lives, they have taken it upon themselves to address issues that were neglected under the watch of men.

Issues that have been life-long sufferings of women across all generations. Sufferings that went unnoticed, because of inadequate representation. Now, these women are stepping up for the entire womankind - to educate them about their bodies, to empower them to take care of their bodies, and provide affordable solutions. 

There are currently 1,400 startups globally in this space (most of which are led by women). That’s a good start! 

But, over 50% of the FemTech market is dominated by apps that track fertility and pregnancy. There are so many other areas that deserve equal attention. 

KaNDY Therapeutics is developing non-hormonal treatment to help manage menopause symptoms. Juno Bio uses machine learning and bioinformatics to analyse and predict vaginal microbiomes’ impact on female fertility. Cirqle has created a non-hormonal contraceptive for women. Fempo has developed period underwear that doesn’t require tampons or pads. Daye has developed a tampon that can also relieve period pain. 

You get it. Femtech is just getting started. 

Well, no path to success is hurdle-free. FemTech too has its own unique set of problems. The sector is highly underfunded, accounting for only 3% aggregated capital that flows into healthcare. Why?

You see, out of 10,000 angel investors in India, only 1% are women. Yes!  It becomes difficult to pitch a product to people who don't have the expertise to understand your product and can't relate to it! They find it difficult to empathise with the problem.

But investment is not the only hurdle. India’s diverse and multi-lingual population becomes an obstacle too. Low penetration of smartphones and tech in rural areas makes it difficult to reach women and understand their problems.

And these women are the ones who need these solutions more than anyone else. They face health issues more than their urban counterparts - be it sanitary pads, female hygiene or sex education. And, aren’t topics like menstruation, birth control, fertility and sexual wellness still considered a taboo to even discuss? 

It is no surprise that India’s healthcare infrastructure is not the best. Lack of proper access to diagnostic equipment, and screening facilities sometimes might not even identify the real problem. And, what good is a solution without the correct identification of the problem? 

Several Indian startups are also working in the field of Femtech. Some have come up with pocket-sized ultrasound machines which help rural women manage their pregnancies. 

Another startup, Menstrupedia distributes comics in local languages across villages to spread awareness of female health among school going children.

But only 4% of Femtech startups in the world are Indian. 

This FemTech revolution will make healthcare more practical, personalised and affordable for Indian women. Personalised how, you ask?

Enter data: the new oil. 

Harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics, FemTech aims to provide real-time personalised solutions for all women. But this requires highly sensitive data to be out there. And, sensitive data should be handled sensitively right? 

So, data collection and analysis plays an important role, and cannot be compromised at the cost of a few bucks of profit.

All in all, this space looks promising with the advent of affordable and reliable technology. This technology might help women lead a better life. A new-age tech-first solution for the old-age problems of women. 

Women might feel more confident, powerful and ready to take up the challenges thrown at them in this apparently “not-so-niche” world. But will this space rise above its challenges or succumb to them?

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